China hasn't approved a single new video game for sale in 9 months, and that freeze could continue into 2019

The Chinese government has not approved any new video
games for release in the country since March 2018, and the
freeze could continue into early 2019.

China recently announced the formation of an Online
Games Ethics Committe, but the committee's first batch of
reviews resulted in zero approvals.

Video game publishers are working to meet the government's
criteria, even as the halt in approvals has meant they're losing
money in a huge market.

It's been about 9 months since the Chinese government approved a
new video game for release in the country, and the freeze is
likely to continue well into next year. Though the country
recently established an Online Games Ethics Committee, the
organization has yet to find a game that fits their criteria.

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South China Morning Post reported
last week that while China recently formed an Online Games
Ethics Committee to approve video games for sale in the country,
the committee has yet to approve any of the games it has
reviewed.

China has strict regulations regarding new media entering the
country. Video games and movies alike must be reviewed by
officials prior to their mass release, and the government has
strict standards prohibiting violence and offensive content. In
March, China established the State Administration of Press and
Publication to handle the approval of video games and other new
media. The reorganizing of the approval process led to a complete
halt of video game approvals, and China has also restricted the
monetization of certain games that were already approved.

According to China Central Television, a state-run channel, the
comittee has reviewed 20 games so far; nine of the games were
rejected outright, while the other 11 will need to modify their
content to be eligible for release. The committee did not
identify any of the games that were reviewed. A government source
told the South China Morning Post that the freeze on new
approvals is expected to continue into February 2019, while the
government establishes a new licensing system.

While it's unclear what standards new games need to meet for
approval, Chinese officials have criticized video games as a
whole for their impact on the country's youth. Those rallying
against video games have suggested that they are addictive and
make children unproductive.

With about one-fifth of the world's total population, China is
the largest video game market on the planet. Chinese gamers spent
an estimated $34 billion on video games during the 2018 fiscal
year, according to New Zoo.

China also happens to be home to the world's largest video game
publisher, Tencent. Tencent has been unable to release or
otherwise monetize some of its most popular games this year and
its total value has dropped by roughly $200 billion as a result.
In an effort to quell concerns about kids getting addicted to
video games, the company has implemented new age restrictions,
going so far as to
include facial recognition software to limit playtime.

The formation of the Online Games Ethics Committee suggests that
China may soon be ready to approve new games, but publishers will
still need to work through quite a bit of bureaucratic red tape
to bring their game into the country.